Seniors At Arizona High School Graduate By Driving Down A Racetrack

By Bill GalluccioMay 20, 2020

Seniors at Vail School District in Arizona had a unique graduation ceremony after the coronavirus pandemic forced schools to cancel the traditional ceremonies. A group of parents were chatting during a virtual Happy Hour on Zoom when they had the idea to honor the class of 2020 at a local racetrack.

Instead of walking across a stage to get their diploma, graduates would be driven down the track, while a song of their choice blasts over the sound system.

The parents worked with the school district and the owners of Tucson Dragway to plan the three-day event, which included more than 900 graduates from six schools in the district.

Family and friends lined the race track in their decorated cars, which were spaced about ten feet apart, as the graduates made their way down the track.

The graduating seniors were appreciative of how their parents and members of the community came together to put on a special event for them.

“It’s really amazing that even during this whole pandemic, they said, ‘How can we make our kids and our community get the most out of this?’” Josh Aros told Tucson.com. “And ‘how can we make them still feel special?’ when like our last semester of our senior year — probably the best time of our schooling — was taken away from us?”

“We just adapt and overcome, you know?” he added. “It’s just really cool to see we have this whole community behind us.”

Congratulations to the Class of 2020! iHeartRadio’s ”Commencement: Speeches for the Class of 2020” podcast celebrates this year’s graduating students as they take their next steps into the world. For more inspiring speeches from celebrities, athletes, business leaders, and more listen to the podcast on iHeartRadio.

Photo: Getty Images

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